Tuesday, November 28, 2017

+ Today,The National Board of Review namedPhantom Thread one of the top 10 motion pictures of 2017 and presented the award for Best Original Screenplay to Mr. Paul Thomas Anderson for his work on the script.

+ Secondly, W Magazine has released a well-worth-reading interview with Daniel Day-Lewis in which he discusses the (apparently devastating) process of working on Phantom and why he has decided to retire from acting. You can read the article in full here.

+ ICYMI from the C&RV twitter, a mouthwatering new poster for the film was rolled out at the Fine Arts screening on 11/24. Here's a photo of it in the wild until we can get our hands on a proper jpeg.

+ New guild screenings in London, Miami, Palm Springs, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara and Seattle have now all been booked and posted to the film's official site. With the first public screenings now out of the way, we expect the news to trickle in rather precipitously for the foreseeable future, so please do keep your eyes peeled. Despite the strict embargo placed on the critical response until December 7th, the whispers we've heard following the screenings in Los Angeles and New York indicate something really special has been cooked up with this movie.

+ Last but not least, Nonesuch Records will officially be distributing Jonny Greenwood's soundtrack album for the film, as they did on the previous three PTA/Greenwood collaborations. Release date/tracklist/artwork have yet been rolled out, but that's now a matter of "when" rather than "if."

Monday, November 20, 2017

As part of a limited series of advanced screenings rolled out today, C&RV is pleased to announce it has partnered with Focus Features on a special giveaway for passes to an advanced showing of Paul Thomas Anderson’s new film, Phantom Thread, and the man himself will be in attendance for a Q&A after the presentation, alongside stars Lesley Manville and Vicky Krieps!

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Mr. Burt Reynolds recently sat down for a 90-minute conversation with the Movie Geeks United! podcast.
During the course of this in-depth discussion, Reynolds spoke at length about a number of his films and iconic roles -- including Boogie Nights & Jack Horner, which he has apparently still not watched all the way through.

Saturday, November 11, 2017

Well, it likely comes as cold comfort if you are one of our readers who is not [yet] in any of the showbiz unions, but the first public screenings of Paul Thomas Anderson's eighth motion picture, Phantom Thread, have been booked and posted on the Focus Features website.

If you are a SAG or AMPAS member and live in New York or LA, you can find the directory of screenings here and RSVP to the date that best suits you. Los Angeles screenings run from 11/24 through 11/30, New York screenings 11/26 through 11/30.

The first New York screening will be followed by a Q&A with Paul Thomas Anderson, Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville and Vicky Krieps, while the first three LA screenings will be followed by Q&A's with PTA, Lesley Manville and Vicky Krieps.

Saturday, October 21, 2017

Things are starting to heat up on the Phantom Thread front, and quickly! Since we last posted, Focus Features has launched two verified social media accounts on Twitter and Facebook for the film, the latter of which has posted a full synopsis for the movie which discloses (among other things) the name of Daniel Day-Lewis' character. If you are trying to retain your sense of mystery going into the theatre on Christmas Day, we can dig it. The synopsis is pasted below the fold for you to avoid as you wish. Also below the fold is an excerpt passed along to us from a recent Mark Bridges interview for Film Comment, in which he touched on the costume design of the new film. Enjoy!

Friday, October 13, 2017

As we slowly close in on the release date of Paul Thomas Anderson’s eighth feature length motion picture, a project otherwise still shrouded in secrecy has at least settled on one thing: it is in fact, after all the pomp and circumstance, going to be called Phantom Thread. Since we were secretly rooting for this all along, the news definitely receives the C&RV stamp of approval.

No less revealing, the news of the title has been unveiled due to the official site for the movie being launched by Focus Features earlier today. You can visit that site by clicking here.

For now, other information about the status of the project on the site does not reveal much beyond what we already knew (its synopsis almost exactly matches the one Focus released when principal photography got underway earlier this year) but it does reaffirm a Christmas Day release, which some folks had been skittish about considering how tightly under wraps the film has been until now.

We can only guess this means more major info is on the precipice of dropping but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Monday, October 02, 2017

As we suddenly find ourselves within striking distance of #ProjectPhantomThread, PTA continues to kick out the HAIM jams with the wonderfully pleasant new video for their track "Little of Your Love,' which you can see above.

Also finally migrating onto the site from our social media outlets a few days ago, PTA's 14-minute performance film with HAIM, Valentine, is also now broadly available for eye-feasting. Peep it:

Saturday, July 01, 2017

Haim announced today that they were only just getting started with Paul Thomas Anderson when they released the video for their track "Right Now" that he directed, back in April. Turns out PTA will be dispatching a new trio of performance videos from the group on 35mm. For right now, it looks like there's only one screening booked and it'll be in Brooklyn on July 5 as part of an exclusive promotion for the band's upcoming LP, which you can RSVP for here.

The short film is called Valentine and this is what the film can looks like, per Mark (@The_Prolefeed):

We imagine this thing will become more broadly available for public consumption at some point sooner rather than later, but more details on that will be posted as they become available.

Thursday, June 29, 2017

Today, Indiewire confirms what we've been suspecting for some months now: Paul Thomas Anderson did indeed serve as his own cinematographer on the upcoming fashion drama that has loosely (though no less affectionately) been known as Phantom Thread.

Indiewire confirms in the same story that "Phantom Thread" is only a placeholder title for production purposes and that the eventual one-sheet will bear a different name. That's just fine, though. We can still use it until we get a better one.

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Well, not exactly the news we wanted to be sharing today, but also not exactly the most surprising news in the world: Variety reported today that Daniel Day-Lewis has announced his intention to retire from acting following the release of Paul Thomas Anderson's new film, which is informally still known as "Phantom Thread" and quietly wrapped principal photography last month.

DDL's spokesperson says in the Variety story that "Daniel Day-Lewis will no longer be working as an actor. He is immensely grateful to all of his collaborators and audiences over the many years. This is a private decision and neither he nor his representatives will make any further comment on this subject."

It goes without saying, this is our loss but it only intensifies our eagerness to see what Day-Lewis' farewell performance will look like come Christmastime.

Friday, April 28, 2017

For those in the Los Angeles area, Cinespia will be holding an outdoor 20th anniversary screening for Boogie Nights Saturday, May 20th at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. In their words:

P.T. Anderson’s tour-de-force about the porn industry in 1970s Los Angeles swept across screens and launched the career of one of our most brilliant filmmakers. Mark Wahlberg stars as the well endowed but naive dishwasher who became one of the biz’s greatest heroes. Discovered by a powerful producer, his fame grows as does his attachment to his new film family.

Pulsing disco, thrusting camera moves and a dream cast adorn this sparkling story that reveals the darkness at the edges of the glamor and dazzle of our most glittering era. Also stars Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, John C Reilly, Heather Graham and Don Cheadle.

Thursday, April 27, 2017

A new "slow rolling" live video from Haim has been released, shot by Paul Thomas Anderson. Pitchfork released a review of the track and had this to say:

“Right Now,” the first track from Haim’s upcoming album, Something to Tell You, is strictly for the heads. A live studio recording filmed in slow-rolling precision by Paul Thomas Anderson, the song is hardcore Haim, with its bashing drums, punk feedback, and pleading vocals. They sound tough as hell. “Gave you my love, you gave me nothing/Said what I gave wasn’t enough,” Danielle Haim spits out with ample venom. It builds from there, piece by piece, until her jerk of a lover wants her to come back, “right now.”

No way, dude! This is what Haim does best, create a small universe in a song, then soundtrack it with ample fire. Admittedly, it’s not a perfect take—Danielle sometimes sounds rushed, sometimes the levels are wonky—but that’s not really the point. It’s Haim at their most skeletal, giving you a taste, and this raw sound delivers their signature heebie-jeebies just fine!

For now, it's unclear whether the Christmas bow is a limited engagement before expanding at a later date, or whether it will be released nationwide at that time. One could probably look to the There Will Be Blood release as a template, which hit New York and LA markets in December of 2007 but didn't see national exhibition until January

Thursday, March 23, 2017

The very smart and good people at the Talk Easy podcast brought us the extensive interview they did with PTA-alum Philip Baker Hall from a couple weeks ago and PBH talks quite a bit about the three films he did with Paul. If you're short on time, that stuff comes in right around the 45 minute mark, but the whole thing seriously warrants listening. Thanks to Sam and Nora from Talk Easy for laying this embarrassment of riches at our feet --

In other news, we obtained a few new set photos from the set of #ProjectPhantomThread courtesy of reader Luke Roulstone. If you play Where's Waldo, you can spot the man himself in one or two of them.

And lastly, we particularly like this candid moment that comes courtesy of Twitter user @MariamGonzalez7

Wednesday, February 01, 2017

Focus Features has provided a formal press release today with some new details about the untitled (yes, it is careful to note, untitled) new Paul Thomas Anderson project, including cast and crew members as well as some new details about the story.

LOS ANGELES, February 1st, 2017 – Production has begun in the U.K. on writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s untitled new film. Three-time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis is joined in the cast by Lesley Manville, who was a BAFTA Award nominee for Best Actress for Another Year, and Vicky Krieps, whose films include A Most Wanted Man and Focus Features’ Hanna.

Focus holds worldwide rights to the film, and will distribute the film in the U.S. later this year with Universal Pictures handling international distribution.

The film’s producers are JoAnne Sellar, Megan Ellison, through her Annapurna Pictures, and Paul Thomas Anderson. The executive producers are Peter Heslop, Adam Somner, and Daniel Lupi. Chelsea Barnard and Jillian Longnecker are overseeing production for Annapurna.

Continuing their creative collaboration following 2007’s There Will Be Blood, which earned Mr. Day-Lewis the Best Actor Academy Award, Mr. Anderson will once again explore a distinctive milieu of the 20th century. The new movie is a drama set in the couture world of 1950s London. The story illuminates the life behind the curtain of an uncompromising dressmaker commissioned by royalty and high society.

Perhaps least surprising of all this is the fact that Jonny Greenwood and Mark Bridges have signed on for the film, while it's a pleasant surprise to see Dylan Tichenor back in the mix, having not edited for Paul in almost exactly a decade.

The release goes so far as to identify Veronique Melery and Michael Bauman as the film's set decorator and lighting camerman, respectively, but curiously omits who will be serving as cinematographer. We have certain theories about why that might be but we'll hold off on reporting that for now...

Monday, January 30, 2017

Today, reports surfaced - further validated by the apparently invaluable Whitby Gazette - that the new Paul Thomas Anderson/Daniel Day-Lewis collaboration is filming under the working title Phantom Thread, as seen in the official signage of the production above.

A cursory internet search also does indeed turn up a Phantom Thread LLC registered to one Megan Ellison that was launched in London in August of last year for "motion picture production activities".

Whether this is and has been the official title of the movie is not certain, but it's not a shabby handle for the time being.

Sunday, January 29, 2017

With little fanfare, or flashy cast and crew rollout, the set photos speak for themselves: production is officially underway on Paul Thomas Anderson's eighth feature-length motion picture.

Above is just one of a whole slew of set photos that were released over the past 48 hours by UK newspaper the Whitby Gazette, and seems to be the only one of the batch where Paul is visible (albeit in the background).

We've kept some of the more exciting photographs below the fold for any purists out there who want to decide how fresh they'll go into this newest PTA endeavor. Having said that, peep below at your own discretion and also view the full set of photos from the Whitby Gazette here.